Macbeth at Dunsinane is waiting for the attackers when he's told that
his wife is dead; she has killed herself. He barely has time to
react before a report arrives that Birnam Wood seems to be
moving--toward the castle! Furious, frightened, and desperate,
Macbeth calls out his troops.
Malcolm's army throw down the branches and the battle begins.
Macbeth's men hardly put up a fight, but Macbeth battles like a
trapped animal.
Finally, Macbeth comes face to face with Macduff, who has been
looking for him in the battlefield. Macbeth warns his enemy that no
man born of woman can harm him. Macduff isn't frightened--he was
"untimely ripped" from his mother's womb. (Today we would call it a
cesarean section.) Though he knows the end has come, Macbeth fights
on and is killed. In triumph, Macduff carries Macbeth's severed head
out to the people, who turn to Malcolm as their rightful king.
MACBETH: MACBETH
Macbeth is a character of powerful contradictions. He is a man who,
for the sake of his ambition, is willing to murder his king and his
best friend. At the same time, he has a conscience that is so strong
that just the thought of his crimes torments him. In fact, even
before he commits his crimes the thought of them makes him miserable.
Is Macbeth a horrible monster or is he a sensitive man--a victim of
witches and his own ambitions? Or is he both? If he is both, how
can the two sides of his nature exist side by side?
To answer those questions, let's first look at what he does. Then we
will look at how he feels about what he does. In the play, of
course, the two go together.
His actions are monstrous. If Macbeth were a criminal brought to
trial, the list of the charges against him would be long:
1. He murders his king, who is also a relative. The crime is
treasonous and sacrilegious, since every king is set on his throne by
God. Macbeth's guilt is even blacker because the King was his guest
at the time of the murder. A host has responsibility to protect his
guest.
2. He hires men to kill his best friend, Banquo. He wants the men
to kill Banquo's young son, Fleance, too, but Fleance escapes.
3. He sends men to kill Macduff's wife and children.
4. Having taken the crown by murder, he keeps it by deception. He
plants spies in all the nobles' homes and spreads lies about Malcolm,
